St Vrain students return from flood break with few problems

Lyons students will resume Monday at Longmont's Main Street School

FIRESTONE -- After an unexpected week off, most St. Vrain Valley School District students returned to school Thursday with just a few hiccups.

Burlington Elementary had trouble with some computers and its intercom system because the school had been without electricity for a week. Even Thursday morning, the school was running on generator power.

Principal Janis Hughes took it all in stride though, even as she scooted from room to room to figure out where repairs were needed.

Even though the school sits in the middle of the Southmoor Park neighborhood, from which residents were evacuated early as the flooding began on Sept. 12, most students made it in on time.

Nine-year-old Olivia Seiler and her sisters, 7-year-old Isabel and 5-year-old Lily, were among the late arrivals. The trip from their Firestone home took about 45 minutes because of road closures and heavy traffic, said their mom, Audra.

The Seiler family home wasn't damaged by the storm, but when a boil order was issued to Firestone residents, they decided to leave town, Audra Seiler said.

They spent two nights with their grandmother in Denver and one with an aunt in Lakewood. And they went to the zoo, Lily quickly pointed out.

Hughes wasn't sure Thursday how many of her students might still be out of their homes. The school's part-time counselor, Emily McClay, came in on her usual day off to help any children who needed it.

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"We really care about students. We want to see them back in the classroom," McClay said. Students were happy to get back to school and see their friends, she said.

"Kids heal kids. They really heal each other," she said.

On the other side of the district, the biggest problem at Frederick High School was getting some of the teachers and staff to school on time.

Eight employees who live in Boulder or Longmont were late because of the road closures and traffic issues, principal Pete Vargas said.

Frederick High School senior Sabrina Duey was glad to be back at school, particularly since the week off set her Advanced Placement classes behind schedule. And the student council, of which she and junior Makenzie DiGesualdo are members, lost a week of preparing for the school's homecoming celebration.

"It's complicated," Duey said.

Student council members are trying to figure out how they can help students from Lyons and other schools who suffered losses in the storm, Makenzie said.

"That's a concern of our school," Makenzie said.

Because of the devastation to the infrastructure in Lyons -- roads, power and water systems were destroyed -- all students who attend Lyons schools are being moved to Main Street School in Longmont. They will start classes there next week.

Anna Brooks, also a junior, said she heard some Frederick students complaining about returning to school, but she was thankful.

"At least we have a school to come back to," Anna said.

Not far from the year-old high school, some floodwaters made it inside Spark! Discovery Preschool. District officials had cleaning crews in the building on Sept. 12 and -- after Sunday's additional rain -- on Monday and Tuesday, said head of school Paige Gordon.

Outside, the water reached about a foot high on the eastern walls of the school. It entered through the doors on the loading dock and spread through the kitchen, the cafeteria, the gym and up the halls to two classrooms, Gordon said.

Principal Janis Hughes hugs third-grader Evelynn Marchand on the first day back to school at Burlington Elementary on Thursday morning. Burlington is running on generator power.
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LEWIS GEYER
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Baseboards have been removed and, on Thursday, fans were still running to dry and air out the building.

"We're still working on it," Gordon said.

The roof also leaked at Spark!, as district chief operations officer Rick Ring said Sunday had occurred at several schools.

Gordon wasn't surprised, though.

"That's what buildings do when they have a year's worth of water in a few days," she said.

Despite the storm's effects in the Carbon Valley -- numerous closed roads, boil orders for drinking water and damaged houses -- only seven students were absent Thursday, she said.

And one of those had an incredibly good reason, unrelated to the storm.

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